A Week at Río Claro - The Night Life

I will finish this series of posts from Reserva Natural Cañon del Río Claro with some photos of the "night life". We did not get out for as many night hikes as we normally do, and we never set up the moth sheet, limiting some of the photographic opportunities at night.

During our first evening, a young couple ahead of us on the path between the restaurant and our accommodations had bent over to look at something on the stone walkway. We investigated - they had found a snake! I believe it is a Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis).

Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

We also found a huge tarantula outside its burrow along this pathway during the first evening. This individual, in the genus Xenesthis, was present in the same location each evening and we checked in with it on our way to or from dinner.

Xenesthis sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

We did not see a huge diversity of frogs, mainly due to lack of effort on our part. Below are a few of the ones that I photographed.

Pristimantis gaigei - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Craugastor raniformis - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Pristimantis gaigei - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Diasporus sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Craugastor sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Leaf Litter Toad (Rhaebo haematiticus) - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Laura spotted this incredible caterpillar crossing the trail one evening. It certainly is not a species we have either seen before (at least, in the larval form). I have no idea what its identification is!

Unidentified Lepidopteran - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Unidentified Lepidopteran - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Tailless Whipscorpions were abundant along rock walls and tree trunks beside the main path between the restaurant and our accommodations. While appearing quite fearsome, they are actually harmless (which is one reason why they are a popular pet among arachnid enthusiasts). This species has been identified by an iNaturalist user as Heterophrynus armiger. 

Heterophrynus armiger - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

While we are on the theme of arachnids, below are two interesting spiders that I snapped photos of. 

Unidentified Dipluridae (Curtain-web Spider)  - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Ancylometes sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

We saw many interesting stick insects and katydids but I did not take photos of most. I will finish this post with a really cool, massive Anolis that I found sleeping on a large leaf. I am still searching for an ID for this one. 

Anolis sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Anolis sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia

Anolis sp. - RN Cañon del Río Claro, Antioquia, Colombia